Shift Manufacturing Manager

About the Role

Are you a passionate manufacturing leader with a continuous improvement mindset and a drive for operational excellence? At DS Smith, we're looking for a Shift Manufacturing Manager who thrives in a fast-paced environment and is committed to creating a culture where safety, performance, and continuous improvement are at the heart of everything we do.

In this role, you will take full responsibility for production, quality, safety, and people performance during your shift. As a visible and hands-on leader, you will spend time on the shop floor coaching, developing, and supporting your team while identifying opportunities to improve processes, reduce waste, increase efficiency, and enhance overall operational performance.

You will play a critical role in embedding continuous improvement methodologies, driving problem-solving behaviours, and fostering a culture where every colleague is empowered to contribute ideas that improve safety, quality, delivery, cost, and customer satisfaction.

Key Responsibilities

(Including but not limited to)

• Lead by example to create and maintain a safe working environment, ensuring health and safety standards are always met while continuously identifying opportunities to improve workplace safety.
• Drive a culture of continuous improvement, encouraging teams to challenge the status quo, eliminate waste, and implement sustainable process improvements.
• Ensure production plan attainment across digital printing, cutting and die preparation operations.
• Monitor operational performance throughout the shift, using data and visual management tools to identify trends, root causes, and improvement opportunities.
• Lead structured problem-solving activities and corrective actions to improve productivity, quality, and machine performance.
• Analyse variances in material consumption and waste, operational efficiencies and implement robust improvement plans to minimise waste and control costs.
• Coach and develop teams in continuous improvement methodologies, building capability and ownership across all operational areas.
• Collaborate closely with Production control, Planning, Engineering, and Operations teams to ensure production plans align with customer requirements and business priorities.
• Facilitate effective shift handovers and performance reviews, ensuring clear communication of priorities, actions, and improvement opportunities.
• Support and deliver site KPIs through data-driven decision-making and a relentless focus on continuous improvement and operational excellence.
• Champion quality standards and customer requirements, driving right-first-time performance and reducing non-conformance.

About You

We're looking for a resilient and proactive manufacturing leader who has a proven track record of delivering results through people, processes, and continuous improvement. You will be passionate about creating high-performing teams and fostering an environment where colleagues are engaged, empowered, and focused on making things better every day.

You will be a hands-on coach who can inspire teams, solve problems effectively, and use data to identify opportunities for operational excellence. Your leadership style will balance accountability with development, ensuring both people and performance continue to grow.

The ideal candidate will demonstrate:

• Strong experience leading teams within a manufacturing environment, ideally within packaging, print, FMCG, or another fast-paced production setting.
• A proven track record of driving continuous improvement initiatives that deliver measurable operational benefits.
• Experience applying Lean Manufacturing, Root Cause Analysis, Kaizen, or other continuous improvement methodologies.
• Excellent leadership, communication, coaching, and stakeholder management skills.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities with the ability to make effective decisions under pressure.
• A commitment to creating a positive, inclusive, and high-performance culture.
• A sound understanding of health and safety, quality management systems, and operational excellence principles.
• The ability to adapt to changing priorities while maintaining focus on long-term improvement and sustainable performance gains.

Minimum Requirements

• Previous leadership experience within a manufacturing environment (packaging, print, or FMCG experience advantageous).
• Demonstrable experience delivering continuous improvement and operational excellence initiatives.
• Strong knowledge of Lean Manufacturing, problem-solving techniques, and performance management.
• Excellent communication and people management skills.
• Knowledge of health & safety regulations and quality management systems.
• Ability to work the required rotational shifts.

Benefits

Additional benefits include:

• 25 days’ holiday plus bank holidays
• Pension scheme
• Life assurance
• Income protection
• Employee assistance program
• Cycle to work scheme
• Shopping discounts
• Subsidised staff canteen
• On site parking

Location: Ely

Working Pattern: Rotational Shift

•        Week 1: Monday –Friday – 06:00 – 14:00

•        Week 2: Monday – Friday – 14:00 -22:00

About us

We are DS Smith, together with International Paper, we are a global leader in sustainable packaging solutions and other fibre-based products. We believe a better, more sustainable tomorrow is possible with the right people, who challenge and support one another to enact positive change. We employ more than 65,000 colleagues in North America and Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), who are experts in innovation, manufacturing, design, sales, sustainability, supply chain, and much more. Together with our customers, we make the world safer and more productive, one sustainable packaging solution at a time. Become part of a world-leading organisation and do your best work with us!

Fair recruitment at DS Smith

To fulfil our purpose of redefining packaging for a changing world, we aim to build a diverse, motivated, and engaged workforce. Our goal is to create a culture of inclusion where everyone is treated fairly, differences are valued, and everyone has an equal opportunity to succeed.

Our people come from diverse backgrounds, bring different perspectives, ideas and experiences to generate unique solutions focused on present and future sustainability challenges. We welcome all candidates to apply, even those not meeting all criteria